1 Thessalonians 2:1-16

1 Thess. 2:1-12 Paul describes his ministry among the Thessalonians

In chapter 1, Paul focused on the Thessalonians.  In chapter 2, he turns the camera around and focuses on himself: What was he doing as he was ministering to them?

What is your overall sense of Paul’s character, based on his self-description here?  How would you describe him to someone who did not know him?

Verses 1-7 Paul’s motivations are like that of a nursing mother

In the first two verses, Paul recalls that when he came to Thessalonica, he had been severely beaten in Philippi.  And then he encountered swift opposition in Thessalonica.  What sustains him?  Where does he get the courage or boldness to continue preaching?

We don’t face the kind of opposition Paul did, but many of us hesitate to talk about our faith with others.  Why is that?

How can you draw courage from God to speak boldly about the good news of knowing Jesus?

In verses 3-6, Paul offers a list of negatives where he describes many things that his preaching was not.   In compiling this list of false motivations, Paul may be responding to charges that were leveled against him by those who opposed him, or he may be defending the gospel of Christ more generally.

In verses 3-6, Paul lists a series of false motivations that are not the reason for his preaching.  What is the meaning of each of these false motivations?  His preaching was not motivated by what?

• Not from delusion/deceit/error (v. 3).  In other words, his message was not factually false; he was speaking the truth.

• Not from impure motives (v. 3).  He wasn’t trying to secretly get something for himself.

• Not from deception/trickery (v. 3).  He was not withholding information to trick them.

• Not to please humans (v. 4).  He wasn’t doing it so that they would feel good about him.

• Not with flattery (v. 5).  He wasn’t giving them false praise in order to get something from them.

• Not as a pretext for greed (v. 5).  He wasn’t trying to get rich off of them.

• Not seeking praise from them or others (v. 6).  He wasn’t doing it for glory or to gain popularity or acclaim.

Tucked in the middle of this list of negatives that his gospel was not, Paul identifies the one motivation that governed his preaching (verse 4).  What was his motivation?

To please God.

This list of good and bad motivations is useful not just for evaluating our “preaching”; it can be used to evaluate everything we do in our lives.  What are we called to have as our one true motivation in life, and how does it look when we are living that way?

When we seek to please God as our sole motivation, then we (do what?).

Which of the false motivations Paul lists is a risk for you as you live your life in a world that does not always share your faith and values?

What can you do to keep your motivations pure?

We see in our own times how people disparage those they disagree with and use unsubstantiated charges to try to destroy them.  What can we do when we or others we know are falsely attacked?

Paul notes that as apostles, he and his companions could have made demands (not that making demands of people who are just getting to know you gets you very far, but he could have tried that).  But that is not how he approached them.

Paul describes himself as being like a nursing mother.  What do you think this looked like in practice?

How can you be “like a mother” in your approach to people in your community, your workplace, your online presence, your church, your family?

Verses 8-12 Paul’s behavior is like a father with his children

In verse 8, Paul says that he and his companions shared “not only the gospel of God, but our very selves as well” (1 Thess. 2:8, NABRE).  What is his reason for why they did that (verse 8)?

How does sharing your whole self enhance the message you are trying to communicate?

We tend to want to share only the good things about ourselves, and not our whole selves.  How might being more vulnerable strengthen our relationships?  Also, how might this kind of openness strengthen our effectiveness in sharing the gospel?

What does verse 9 tell you about Paul’s work ethic?

Why might it have been important to work for his keep and not expect the Thessalonians to meet his basic needs?

In verse 10, Paul describes his personal conduct and behavior.  How did he act among the Thessalonians?

In verses 11-12, Paul compares his behavior to that of a father with his children.  In what ways was he like a father?

How can you be “like a father” in the sense Paul means it, in your approach to people in your community, your workplace, your online presence, your church, your family?

1 Thess. 2:13-16 Paul gives further thanks, and digresses

Paul here returns to his early theme of thanksgiving (1:2-10).  Why is he thankful?

Judea is the portion of the former kingdom of the Jews that included the region around Jerusalem.

In verse 14, how have the Thessalonians become imitators of the churches of God in Judea?

The Christians in the churches in Judea suffered persecution from their fellow Jews – recall the martyrdom of Stephen (Acts 7:54-8:2) and the persecution under Herod in which James, the brother of John, was killed (Acts 12:1-5).  Similarly, Paul says, the Thessalonians suffered persecution from their fellow Thessalonians (although this came also from Jews even though the Thessalonian church was largely Gentile).

At this point, Paul digresses to talk about the persecutions that some Jews were fomenting in his time.  Because the tone suddenly becomes so harsh, some scholars argue that this was inserted later and not written by Paul.  They point out that Paul was a Jew and held out fervent hope that the Jews would be saved.  In Romans 9:3 he says he would undergo separation from Christ if it would bring his fellow Jews to Christ.  In Romans 11:26, he asserts that “all Israel will be saved” (NRSV, NABRE, and other translations).

Furthermore, this is the only place that Paul attributes the crucifixion to the Jews.  For example, in 1 Corinthians 2:8, he says that “the rulers of this age” crucified the Lord.

We might see this as Paul getting worked up and angry because of the mistreatment that he and these Thessalonians he loved had suffered at the hands of some Jews.  An analogy might be a White person writing angrily about what “the Whites” did to African Americans in the South over the course of 300+ years of enslavement and oppression: referring generically to “the Whites” would not be interpreted as meaning all White people, since only some were directly responsible.

Verses 15-16 have been misinterpreted throughout the centuries to foment persecution against the Jewish people.  Is Paul speaking about any Jews other than those who were persecuting Christians at that time he was writing?

No.  Paul’s words are directed only at those of his time who were persecuting Christians.  This is not a statement about any Jews at any other time in history and should not be used to criticize or harass Jews in our time.  Misusing this passage to justify attacks against Jews is a sign of anti-Semitism.

We have seen previously the word “wrath” that appears in verse 16.  It is Jewish shorthand for the final judgment of God.

In verse 16, when Paul says that the wrath or judgment of God has (already) come, his specific meaning is unclear.  There are several possibilities:

• He could be speaking apocalyptically about what Paul thinks is coming soon.

• He could be thinking of some specific event that had already happened shortly before he wrote the letter.  In The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, Raymond F. Collins indicates that Paul could have been referring to “any of a number of tumultuous events about AD 49: the famine, the edict of Claudius expelling Jews from Rome, the massacre in the Temple courts at Passover” (Collins, “1 Thessalonians,” The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, para. 23, p. 776).

• He could be thinking about the idea that embracing evil means that a person is already living in a state of anticipatory judgment.  As the footnotes to the NABRE put it: “Sinful conduct (1 Thes 2:16) is itself an anticipation of the ultimate wrath or judgment of God (Rom 1:18–2:5), whether or not it is perceived as such” (New American Bible, revised edition, fn. to 1 Thess. 2:15-16, p. 315).

Looking at this entire section of Paul’s letter (1 Thess. 2:1-16), what would you have valued about Paul if you had been in Paul's church?

In what ways might you like to be an imitator of Paul?

Take a step back and consider this:

In verse 4, Paul says that he, Silas, and Timothy were “entrusted” with the gospel. Raymond F. Collins writes, “Paul’s language recalls that of the Athenian court.  Public officials are first scrutinized before they are entrusted with political responsibility.  In similar fashion, Paul and his companions have been scrutinized by God before being entrusted with the mission of proclaiming the gospel” (Collins, “1 Thessalonians,” The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, para. 19, p. 775).

All believers, by virtue of their participation in the faith of Christ and the life of the Church, are entrusted with the task of sharing the gospel (in varying ways, of course, depending on our gifts, etc.).  This is obvious to most Protestant believers.  Catholics sometimes slip into thinking that the task of sharing the gospel belongs to the priests and religious.  However, the Catechism of the Catholic Church states that “the faithful, who by Baptism are incorporated into Christ and integrated into the People of God, are made sharers in their particular way in the priestly, prophetic, and kingly office of Christ, and have their own part to play in the mission of the whole Christian people in the Church and in the World” (Catechism of the Catholic Church. Second Edition, https://www.usccb.org/sites/default/files/flipbooks/catechism/238/, para. 897, page 237, quoting from Pope Paul VI, Lumen Gentium, (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church), 21 Nov. 1964, para. 31).  The Catechism goes on to say:

“Since, like all the faithful, lay Christians are entrusted by God with the apostolate by virtue of their Baptism and Confirmation, they have the right and duty, individually or grouped in associations, to work so that the divine message of salvation may be known and accepted by all men throughout the earth. This duty is the more pressing when it is only through them that men can hear the Gospel and know Christ.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church. Second Edition, https://www.usccb.org/sites/default/files/flipbooks/catechism/240/, para. 900, page 238)

The priests and ministers can’t be everywhere and can’t know everyone; and even if they did, they wouldn’t have all the relationships we have.  Some people may only hear the gospel through us.  God has entrusted all of us with the work of spreading the message of salvation.  All of us are called to share the good news, to encourage others to put their faith in Jesus Christ and accept the love God has for us.

What do you need to do differently, if anything, in light of the fact that God has entrusted you with the gospel?